This invention relates to extruded plastic moldings which are attached to window panels or windshields of a motor vehicle, for example, a molding as disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. D606,474 which issued to the assignee of the present invention, and as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,700. The extruded plastic molding is usually reinforced with an embedded strip such as a metal foil and is attached to an edge portion of the windshield, for example, by foam tape with pressure sensitive contact adhesive. One form of molding used for sealing a windshield includes a flexible portion which defines a cavity for receiving a fin that projects from a cowl panel extending adjacent the bottom edge portion of the windshield.
After the molding is attached to the bottom edge portion of the windshield, the windshield and attached molding are usually shipped in a vertical or upright position with the molding resting or seated on two spaced support members or rails on the bottom wall of a shipping container. In this position, the entire weight of the windshield is applied through the lower molding to the two support rails. This weight at the two support rails when combined with the stresses of handling and shipping, frequently causes changes in the orientation of the lower molding or deforms the flexible portion of the molding. Sometimes, a large U-shaped shipping clip is used to receive the lower edge portion of the windshield and the bottom molding in the area of each of the support rails on the bottom of the shipping container. However, when the shipping clips are used, the entire weight of the windshield is transferred through the molding to the two shipping clips, and frequently causes distortion or deformation of the molding. It is also known to insert a removable spacer strip into the entrance gap of the cavity within the molding to prevent the gap from closing above the support rails.